Conference Session

Mechanics Division Poster Session

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Rockaway, University of Louisville; D. Joseph Hagerty, University of Louisville

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

reviewed the four target areas in need ofimprovement and defined their mission as “Ideas to Action: Using Critical Thinking to FosterStudent Learning and Community Engagement.”[2] The concept of critical thinking has beendefined many times over the past forty years, but generally includes activities focused on keyabilities: to question; to acknowledge and test previously held assumptions; to recognizeambiguity; to examine, interpret, evaluate, reason, and reflect; to make informed judgments anddecisions; and to clarify, articulate, and justify positions [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, 16]. It isevident that the approach developed by the QEP team reflects the determination that criticalthinking is defined by mental activities and standards that

Conference Session

Teaching Dynamics

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J. Shelley, United States Air Force

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

practitioner, measuring is a continuous activity that is frequentlyaccessed. Both models depend on objective metrics which accurately reflect the state ofthe defined process at any time. For this particular class, several sets of metrics areavailable readily, only some of which are useful for CPI. Course enrollment and student grades at course completion are inherent in theconduct of the class. If Dynamics were an elective class, enrollment might indicatechanges in course or instructor popularity. However, because Dynamics is required forall mechanical and civil engineering majors, enrollment should reflect the health of theengineering programs in general. Course grades are based on calculation-style questionsthat require the ability to model a

Conference Session

Mechanics Division Poster Session

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mysore Narayanan, Miami University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

Stokes’ Theorem. It has recorded a score of 3on Likert scale. This must be improved to record at least 4.It seems that the students have a good grasp of Green’s Theorem and Gauss’ Theorem. Theyboth show a respectable score of 4 on Likert scale.Finally, we arrive at the Boussinesq Approximation Assignment. One can see that the conceptsare tough and students have to put in extra effort to appreciate the need for this topic.Regardless, they have shown, interest, and have secured an adequate level of 3 on Likertscale.Furthermore, when a homework assignment is given to them, they seem to fair better. Giventhe freedom of a take-home assignment, the students have shown that they can read a topic,reflect on it and report their findings in an

Conference Session

Teaching Mechanics of Materials & General Mechanics

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Freeman, University of Texas, Pan American; Horacio Vasquez, University of Texas, Pan American; Martin Knecht, South Texas College; Taylor Martin, Univ of Texas at Austin; Arturo Fuentes, University of Texas, Pan American; Joan Walker, Long Island University; Araceli Ortiz, Tufts University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

activities. In the LC, the following steps are performedand repeated:Look AheadThe learning task and desired knowledge outcomes are described here. This step also allows forpre-assessment and serves as a benchmark for self-assessment in the Reflect Back step.Challenge 1 (shown in Figure 1)The first challenge is a lower difficulty level problem dealing with the topic. The student isprovided with information needed to understand the challenge. The steps shown below representthe remainder of the cycle, which prepares the students to complete the challenge. Note thatformative instructional events can and probably should occur in each step of the cycle. Thefollowing LC steps are to motivate and engage the students: Generate ideas: Students are

Conference Session

Teaching Dynamics

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brian Self, California Polytechnic State University; James Widmann, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

candetermine if certain material needs to be covered more in depth, if main issues can be skipped, or Page 15.432.4if supplemental reading material or tutorials need to be provided. The class time can be modified“just-in-time” to reflect student understanding and interest. Seasoned JiTT instructors use actualstudent answers to help build their lecture or explain a theory; they will typically put upoverheads or PowerPoint slides of selected student responses. The class participants recognizetheir own words and feel more ownership of the course.Model-Eliciting Activities (MEAs)MEAs are team-based (usually 3-4 students) assignments where students attempt

Conference Session

Teaching Statics

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lucas Passmore, Pennsylvania State University-Altoona College; Thomas Litzinger, Pennsylvania State University; Christine B. Masters, Pennsylvania State University; Stephen Turns, Pennsylvania State University; Peggy Van Meter, Pennsylvania State University; Carla Firetto, Pennsylvania State University; Sarah Zappe, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

underlying fundamentals of moments andcouples, and the ability to apply them. Consequently, our next round of think-aloudsessions will not have any elements designed to probe precise use of terminology. Weanticipate having results from an additional twelve students by the time of thepresentation at ASEE.AcknowledgmentsThis material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation underGrant EEC- 0550707. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendationsexpressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the viewsof the National Science Foundation.References1. Litzinger, Thomas, Peggy Van Meter, Carla Firetto, Lucas Passmore, Christine Masters, Stephen Turns,and Sarah Zappe, “Improving Students

Conference Session

Teaching Dynamics

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Benson Tongue, University of California, Berkeley; Daniel Kawano, University of California, Berkeley

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

reference.All of the lead author’s courses for which MoveIt modules have been utilized exhibit a carefullydesigned and unified structure. All have been lecture courses with relatively large enrollments, aneducational format that has been an interest of the lead author’s for some time.Homeworks are assigned at roughly one week intervals and the answers to each problem arealways made available at the time of the assignment. A fraction of them will cover material thatthe students will see in the miniquizzes and in the MoveIt assignments and the students are toldthis fact from the start. They’re also told that the final will reflect what they’ve gone over in

Conference Session

Teaching Mechanics of Materials & General Mechanics

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ing-Chang Jong, University of Arkansas

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

superposition.IV. Concluding RemarksIn the method of model formulas, no explicit integration or differentiation is involved in applyingany of the model formulas. The model formulas essentially serve to provide material equations(which involve and reflect the material property) besides the equations of static equilibrium ofthe beam that can readily be written. Selected applied loads are illustrated in Fig. 1(a), whichcover most of the loads encountered in undergraduate Mechanics of Materials. In the case of anonlinearly distributed load on the beam, the model formulas may be modified by the user for aspecific nonlinearly distributed load.The method of model formulas is best taught to students as an alternative method, after they havelearned one or more of

Conference Session

Teaching Mechanics of Materials & General Mechanics

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Edward Anderson, Texas Tech University; Roman Taraban, Texas Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

, and reflection as well as the morecommon define, plan, execute and check steps. The McMaster problem solving program uses astructure similar to that of Wankat and Oreovicz and implements it across entire curricula. Page 15.848.2Gray’s structured approach emphasizes pattern-matching that starts with a small number ofgeneral equations that students reduce to fit a given situation. The Mettes problem solvingschema is based upon a flow chart of problem solving steps and a constructionist approach tolearning. Litzinger’s integrated model emphasizes problem representation and the conversionfrom one representation (say problem statement) to another

Conference Session

Teaching Statics

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Masoud Rais-Rohani, Mississippi State University; Andrew Walters, Mississippi State University; Anthony Vizzini, Western Michigan University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

Calculus II and 3.32 (0.79) in Physics I whereas those in Section 7 had an average GPAof 2.81 (0.98) in Calculus II and 2.58 (0.85) in Physics I. The level of preparation in theprerequisite courses is clearly reflected in the students’ success rate in Statics. Table 5 Samples of Survey Questions and Responses in the Full Implementation Phase Pre-Emporium Activities Score 1. The pre-emporium activities adequately prepared me to do the emporium assignments. 2.92 (1.15) 2. The pre-emporium activities helped me do well on quizzes. 2.79 (1.19) 3. Overall, the pre-emporium activities helped me understand the topics covered in